


It Takes One to Know One

by Moonwevenoom



Series: Cliches for Days (All in a day's work) [1]
Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Comfort, Cuddling, Fluff, Gen, Lots of dialogue, M/M, OT6, Protective Dongju, Protective Hwanwoong, Rewind to Lit era, Sickfic, everyone's protective, hospital mention, relationships can be seen as platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 04:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30083757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonwevenoom/pseuds/Moonwevenoom
Summary: Hwanwoong rests his hand on Dongju’s forehead. He pulls his hand back to feel his own. “Mmm... they feel the same.”
Relationships: Son Dongju | Xion & Everyone, Son Dongju | Xion/Yeo Hwanwoong, Yeo Hwanwoong & Everyone
Series: Cliches for Days (All in a day's work) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2213508
Comments: 11
Kudos: 41





	It Takes One to Know One

**Author's Note:**

> (I only tagged Woong/Dongju since they're the main characters, but I tried my best with soft OT6 :)
> 
> This is set back during Lit era!

Soft music can be heard from the living room. Hwanwoong sits up in bed, wondering why he woke up. Usually, he’d be able to sleep through any sound, especially the beginning scene of one of Dongju’s favorite movies. 

His muffled groan is lost in his pillow as he rolls to the edge. He slides across the room, trying not to wake anyone else up yet. 

_What time is it?_ He rubs his eyes and squints at his alarm clock. _6:47 AM._ He sighs. He’d set his alarm for 9 AM since their first schedule is at noon. _Might as well join Dongju since I won’t be able to fall asleep again._

He smirks as a plan comes to mind. He silently sneaks out of the room and hides behind the couch where Dongju leans his head against the armrest. 

“Boo!” 

A muffled scream makes his smirk widen. 

“Hyung!” Dongju gasps out, turning to glare at him. He’s curled up on the couch with two blankets covering his whole body. 

Hwanwoong muffles his laughter with a fist. 

Dongju continues to glare, until his eyes widen with concern. “Did I wake you up?” 

“No,” Hwanwoong lies. He motions for Dongju to lift his head off the armrest. 

Dongju doesn’t look convinced, but sits up. 

Hwanwoong sits next to the younger and pulls his head onto his lap. “Why are you up so early?” His fingers glide through Dongju’s hair. 

Dongju closes his eyes, humming along to the music. “Couldn’t sleep.” 

“Are you hurt?” Hwanwoong searches Dongju’s face for any signs of discomfort. 

Dongju shakes his head. “Just tired.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, hyung. You’d be the first to know if I were sick.” Dongju opens one eye and grins up at him. 

Hwanwoong can’t hold back a fond smile. The second week of comebacks was always the hardest for Dongju. The youngest tended to throw himself into extra dance practices and vocal lessons before their comeback. He continued to do so during performance season, seeming to forget the packed schedule that awaited them. _Not to mention vlives and filming for Xion log. When does he even sleep?_

Dongju’s nose nuzzles his stomach. 

“We should turn the movie off if you’re going to-”

“Noooooooo.”

“Dongju,” Hwanwoong scolds softly.

“You’re comfy, hyung,” Dongju mutters, wrapping his arms around Hwanwoong’s waist. “And warm.” 

“You’ll sleep better if it’s quiet,” Hwanwoong whispers, tucking the blanket under Dongju’s shoulders.

“I told you I can’t sleep,” Dongju pouts. 

“If you’re not going to watch the movie, I’m going to turn it off,” Hwanwoong mutters, reaching for the remote on the table. 

“Then I can’t sing along,” Dongju rolls until he’s facing the TV. “I already know what’s gonna happen, anyway.” 

“How many times have you watched this?” 

“Mmm... fifteen? Maybe twenty?” 

Hwanwoong chuckles. _Why am I not surprised?_

~~~~~~~~~~

Something tickles against the back of his leg. He startles awake, rubbing at his eyes. 

“Good morning.”

He looks down into equally tired eyes. 

“Good morning. Did you get some sleep?” 

Dongju doesn’t answer, slowly sitting up with a yawn. The credits are rolling on the screen. 

“Did you wake me up because you’re bored?” Hwanwoong stretches his arms out. He winces at the tightness between his shoulder blades. 

“No.” The younger’s cheeky grin betrays his lie. 

“What time is it?” He squints as he looks for the nearest clock.

“Almost nine. Everyone should be awake soon.” Dongju leans against the couch with his eyes closed. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Hwanwoong leans closer to the younger. He knows Dongju tells him almost everything, but he also tends to hide his weakness from others. 

“I’m fine. Like I said, just tired,” Dongju leans into his side. 

Hwanwoong uses his sleeve to wipe the sleepies from the corner of Dongju’s eyes, then slides his hand up to his forehead. He pulls his hand back to feel his own. _Mmm... they feel the same._

A loud gasp makes them turn to the open doorway. “You were watching _Frozen_ without us!” Keonhee bounds into the room. A sleepy Seoho follows him. 

“You’ve watched it more than us,” Hwanwoong argues, standing up. He uses the armrest to catch his balance and makes his way to the empty kitchen. 

“Why are you being so loud?” Geonhak grumbles, scratching at his abs. 

Dongju laughs at the older’s bedhead. “You look like a chick.” 

“He always looks like a chick,” Youngjo comments, making his way to the kitchen. He slides past Hwanwoong to grab a box of cereal. 

The others watch with varying degrees of disgust as the oldest pours milk into a cup, then pours cereal in next. 

“Just because it’s a cup doesn’t mean you can pour the milk in first,” Seoho mutters, staring as Youngjo stabs the cereal with his spoon. 

The oldest swirls the spoon around before bringing it to his mouth. “It tastes better this way.” 

“It’s been scientifically proven that pouring milk in first-”

“Nope. You’re not arguing about this again,” Geonhak cuts him off.

“But it’s for hyung’s-”

“Anyone want some pudding? No? Yay, all for me!” Keonhee swipes the last pudding cup from the fridge. 

“Hey, that’s mine!” Dongju jumps to his feet. He drags a blanket behind him as he stumbles toward the kitchen. 

Geonhak catches the younger when he trips over the edge of the blanket. “Careful.”

“Give me back my pudding!” Dongju chases Keonhee around the kitchen counter. 

“It’s not your pudding!” 

“I was saving it for tonight!”

“Then we can just buy more on the way back from filming,” Keonhee states, peeling the lid off. He steals the spoon from Youngjo, ducking under the older’s attempted swipe.

Dongju plops down on the couch. He leans his head back against the headrest with a sigh. 

“Tired?” Geonhak mutters, sitting next to him. He lets the younger drop his head on his shoulder. 

“We have a long day ahead. You can sleep in the car if you want to,” Youngjo mutters, walking closer to ruffle Dongju’s hair. Youngjo turns to a bleary-eyed Hwanwoong. “You too.” 

“He’s always sleepy,” Keonhee murmurs, wrapping his arms around the shorter from behind. He holds a spoonful of pudding up to Hwanwoong’s mouth. The younger opens his mouth, letting Keonhee feed him. 

“You should eat something,” Geonhak nudges Dongju’s side. 

“Not hungry.” 

Geonhak sighs. Although Hwanwoong was known to be the hardest to wake up, Dongju was the moodiest in the mornings. He often woke up grumpy, especially when he didn’t get enough sleep. 

“Will you eat if I feed you?” 

Dongju blinks up at him. 

“Seoho hyung, can you pour us a cup of cereal, too?” 

Seoho opens his mouth to argue, but quickly closes it when he sees the youngest snuggled against Geonhak’s side. “What flavor?” 

“The usual please.” 

“What’s on our schedule today?” Hwanwoong asks around another spoonful of pudding. He holds back a grimace as his stomach churns painfully. 

“We have our unboxing vlive at noon and filming from 5,” Youngjo answers, “We should fit a light dance practice in between.” 

“What are we filming for again?” 

“1theK wants more dance content. It’s your time to shine,” Youngjo smiles at him. 

Hwanwoong smiles back. He shakes his head when Keonhee tries to feed him another spoonful. 

“You need to eat more,” Seoho mutters, holding a piece of pork belly in front of him. 

He shakes his head again. 

“That’s too heavy for breakfast,” Youngjo chuckles, holding his own spoonful of cereal in front of Hwanwoong. 

The younger ducks under Youngjo’s arm and takes a seat next to Dongju. He drops his head onto Dongju’s lap, seemingly using him as a shield from everyone’s attempts to feed him. 

“Don’t go back to sleep. We’ll need to head to the studio to get things ready soon,” Youngjo mutters, but he sits on the couch and slides Hwanwoong’s feet onto his lap. 

“You can carry me to the car.” He holds himself back from curling his arms around his stomach. _Was the pudding expired?_ He opens one eye to see Keonhee happily eating the last bite. _Doesn’t seem like it._

“I might if you at least eat some cereal.”

Hwanwoong glares at the spoon in front of his face. He looks up to see Dongju refusing to eat the cereal Geonhak offers him. 

“I’ll eat if he eats.” Hwanwoong pokes Dongju’s cheek.

Dongju pouts. “I’ll eat if hyung eats,” the youngest counters.

“That’s not how-”

“You’ll eat something for lunch,” Youngjo states with no room to argue. His voice is gentle, yet firm as he smiles at both of them. 

Hwanwoong meets Dongju’s gaze. He sees a flicker of pain, then fear, then nothing. He almost thinks he imagined the various emotions flittering through the youngest’s eyes. 

“I think-”

“I promise,” Dongju cuts him off. 

Hwanwoong narrows his eyes at him. There’s something off about Dongju, _has been_ off since earlier that morning, but Hwanwoong decides to let the younger come to him. _There’s no use forcing an answer out of him._

~~~~~~~~~~

He thought a full meal would ease the churning in his stomach, yet now it feels like a cluster of stones has sunk to the bottom. His legs feel heavy as he goes through the dance motions, relying on muscle memory to get him to the end. He sneaks a glance at Dongju to see him nearly tripping over Keonhee’s foot. 

Seoho steadies him before he can fall. 

“Let’s take a break. Drink some water,” Youngjo goes to the front to turn off the music and grab a water bottle. He hands it to a still-dazed Dongju. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, hyung. Just tired.” Dongju accepts the water bottle and takes small sips. He pulls his shirt up to wipe his face. 

“Are you sure? You’re sweating a lot,” Geonhak throws him a towel. 

Dongju winces as it hits his throat. He holds back a cough, gripping the edges of the towel tightly. He nods. 

Hwanwoong watches the exchange with wary eyes. A weird feeling nags at his chest. He walks to his bag and rummages for his water bottle, frowning when he feels something unfamiliar at the top. He quickly pulls it out, eyes widening. Two familiar pills sit inside his palm. Someone had carefully bagged two painkillers and snuck them into his bag. 

Hwanwoong looks around the room, trying to gauge the others’ actions. The first question that comes to mind is, _who?_ The second is, _how? How did someone figure out I’m sick before I even figured it out myself?_

His gaze lingers on Dongju, who’s leaning back against the mirror with his eyes half-closed. The other members are hovering around the youngest. Seoho tries to feed him a snack while Youngjo urges him to drink more water. Geonhak wipes the sweat from his neck. Keonhee chatters away, smile widening at Dongju’s occasional smart quip. 

The door to their practice room swings open. A head pops through. “Filming got moved up an hour. We need to head out now if you want to get your hair and make-up done on time,” their manager states. 

“Do we have time to take a shower?” Youngjo asks, glancing at their maknae. 

“Yes, but make it quick.” Their manager nods, then closes the door. 

“Let’s get ready,” Youngjo mutters, swinging his bag over his shoulder. Seoho does the same after patting Pepe’s head. 

“I’ll help Dongju to the shower,” Geonhak mutters, grabbing Dongju’s hand. He tries to pull the maknae up and into his side, but Dongju stumbles toward the door on his own. 

Hwanwoong doesn’t miss Geonhak’s worried frown. He curls his fingers around the small bag in his hands. 

“Woongie, are you coming?” His gaze snaps to Keonhee waiting in the doorway. While he was distracted, everyone had gathered their things and left the room. 

“I gotta go to the bathroom. I’ll meet you outside.” 

“Don’t take too long!” Youngjo’s call echoes through the hallway. 

~~~~~~~~~~

_It’s Dongju. There’s no doubt._ He knows their hyungs have most likely caught on to their weird behavior, but not on the _why._ He isn’t sure how Dongju found out- _Oh._ He slaps his hand over his face. _Of course._

Hwanwoong had felt Dongju’s forehead that morning, then felt his own. _It felt the same._ He stares at the painkillers in his hand. _At least Dongju found some medicine._ He throws them in his mouth and swallows them with a gulp of water. He knows they won’t kick in for another ten minutes or so, but he can feel his body already starting to relax. _Thanks Dongju._ His reflection grins back at him. 

~~~~~~~~~~

_Should I tell someone?_ Hwanwoong glances worriedly at Dongju as the youngest barely avoids tripping over Geonhak’s leg. _It’s the fifth time this take._ They’re already on their third retake, since Dongju doesn’t seem to be able to stay on his feet. 

_But he should’ve taken some medicine._ Hwanwoong watches Seoho sneak an arm around Dongju’s waist to help him keep balance. The main camera is focused on Keonhee, so Hwanwoong lets his smile fade to a neutral expression. 

_And if I tell someone, then they’ll find out I’m sick, too._ He shudders at the thought. It’s not that he doesn’t like his hyungs doting over him. If anything, he likes it more than he’d want to admit. But if they found out he was hiding it from them... 

Dongju stifles a sneeze. He chokes on his next breath and muffles a cough into his elbow. 

_Okay, that’s it._ Hwanwoong’s resolve hardens as the song ends. He doesn’t care if the cameras are still rolling as he strides to Dongju’s side and grabs his hand. He tugs him back to the dressing room, ignoring the worried shouts of his other members. 

“Woongie-”

“Dongju’s not feeling well,” Hwanwoong mutters, sitting on the closest chair and coaxing their maknae to sit on his lap. He winces as Dongju nearly collapses onto his legs, the younger wrapping his arms around Hwanwoong’s back. 

“You’re sick too,” Dongju whispers against Hwanwoong’s neck. 

Hwanwoong sighs. _There’s no point arguing now._ “Did you take any medicine?”

Dongju shakes his head. 

“Then why did you give me both?” Hwanwoong tries to pull the younger’s shoulder back so he can see his face, but Dongju stubbornly clings to him.

“You needed them.” 

“You should’ve taken one.”

“That’s not how medicine works, hyung.” 

“One is better than none,” Hwanwoong mutters, rubbing his hands along Dongju’s back. “How long have you been feeling like this?”

Dongju hides his face against the older’s chest. 

“Dongju-ya, I know you’ve been feeling off before this morning,” Hwanwoong states. 

Dongju sighs. “I thought it was allergies. I’ve been feeling congested for a few days so I took some allergy medication. It seemed like it helped a bit, but I didn’t realize I was sick until this morning.” 

“Of course you two would get sick at the same time. You’re always cuddled up with each other,” Keonhee mutters, sliding his hand against Dongju’s cheek. Hwanwoong doesn’t miss the slight jealousy in the taller’s tone. “Hyung, he’s burning up.” 

Youngjo lays his hands on both their foreheads. His eyebrows furrow. “I’ll tell manager-nim we’ll need to take a trip to the hospital-”

“No.” Dongju’s fingers fly up to catch Youngjo’s sleeve. “I just want to go home and sleep.” 

“But-” 

“He’s right, hyung,” Hwanwoong whispers. “They’ll probably just tell us to take some medicine and get lots of rest.” He closes his eyes as Youngjo’s hand slides down to cup his cheek. 

Youngjo lets out a long breath. “We’re going to the hospital if your fever goes up, or you refuse to eat. Got it?” 

Dongju whines, but nods. Hwanwoong is finally able to pull back enough to see his members. Seoho runs back in with a bottle of painkillers and water. Geonhak runs back with their jackets and bags. 

“I’ll carry Dongju and Youngjo hyung will carry Woongie,” Keonhee states, already kneeling down with his arms spread out behind him. Dongju reluctantly pulls back from Hwanwoong’s embrace to crawl onto Keonhee’s back. He immediately relaxes against Keonhee’s back, head tucked into the taller’s neck. 

“Here, climb on.” Youngjo kneels down so Hwanwoong can get on his back. The shorter man feels a warm hand on his shoulder and turns to see Seoho with a poorly hidden frown. 

“I’m okay hyung. Or, I’ll be okay with a day’s worth of sleep,” Hwanwoong jokes, holding out his hand. Seoho smiles as he grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze. 

They slowly make their way down to the garage. Hwanwoong looks over to see Geonhak doing something similar, except Dongju has started to swing their hands wildly between them. 

“Stop swinging your arms. You’re gonna fall off.” 

“It’s your fault if I fall off. I can barely walk straight right now,” Dongju giggles. 

“Did he take the medicine?” Geonhak asks. He tightens his grip on Dongju’s hand, but can’t stop him from swinging their hands. 

“Yeah. Since when do people get loopy from painkillers?” 

“He’s always clingy when he’s sick,” Seoho teases. 

“I’m not clingy!” Dongju shouts, making a few staff turn towards them. 

“You’re always clingy,” Keonhee laughs, bouncing Dongju on his back. Dongju bites his shoulder. “Hey!”

“Save it for when we get home,” Youngjo chuckles. Hwanwoong can hear the fondness in his voice. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“Why do they get to cuddle?” Keonhee pouts from the doorway. Hwanwoong smiles as he tightens his arms around Dongju’s waist. The maknae has an arm around his back and a leg swung over his hip. Hwanwoong can feel Dongju’s steady breaths against his neck. 

“Do you want to catch whatever they have?” Geonhak scrunches his nose. 

Keonhee ignores him and sits on the edge of the bed. He seems to contemplate something before sliding in to lie behind Hwanwoong. The younger closes his eyes as Keonhee throws an arm around them both. 

Youngjo chuckles. “Might as well.” He pulls off his hood and throws it on Seoho’s bed. He crawls onto the already occupied bed and lays a protective arm over the three of them. 

Seoho and Geonhak share a glance. 

“C’mon.” Youngjo leans his head back to give them a reassuring smile. 

Hwanwoong feels the bed sink near his feet. He feels another dip from above. Soft fingers smooth over his forehead. A strong hand soothes the tension from his shoulders. 

He feels warm. Protected. _Loved._

He lets all his stress and worries go as he relaxes into a peaceful sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, this is a lot longer than I thought ^o^ It’s already 2 AM and I’m craving some cuddles lol. 
> 
> I decided to make this a series where I write a fic based on a cliche phrase/action. Let me know if you have any requests! 
> 
> (Disclaimer: This story is completely fictional and only intended for entertainment purposes. Thanks so much for reading!!!)


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